Robert Treat Paine Jr.
Robert Treat Paine, Jr. (December 9, 1773 - November 13, 1811) was an American poet and editor. Life Paine was born in Taunton, Massachusetts, the 2nd son of Robert Treat Paine (signer of the Declaration of Independence). Born Thomas Paine (after his paternal grandfather), in 1801 he changed his name to that of his recently deceased older brother, in part as a tribute to his father and in part to avoid confusion with the more famous Thomas Paine, the revolutionary pamphleteer, who was unpopular at that time. He entered Harvard University in 1788. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from Harvard, for whose commencement ceremonies he wrote a number of pieces.Dictionary of Literary Biography, accessed November 29, 2009 After a temporary suspension, he graduated from the University in 1792. On leaving college, he was apprenticed to a Boston counting-house, which he quit on reaching his majority. In 1794 he founded the Federal Orrery, a political and literary magazine, which he ran for 2 years. Rufus Wilmot Griswold says of Paine that: "For his poems and other productions he obtained prices unparalleled in this country, and rarely equalled by the rewards of the most popular European authors. For the 'Invention of Letters,' written at the request of the President of Harvard University, he received fifteen hundred dollars, or more than five dollars a line. 'The Ruling Passion,' a poem recited before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, was little less profitable; and he was paid seven hundred and fifty dollars for a song of half a dozen stanzas, entitled, 'Adams and Liberty'."Source: Rufus Wilmot Griswold, The Poets and Poetry of America (New York: James Miller, Publisher, 1872)], 75. Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and Poetry, College of Law, West Virginia University. Web, Oct. 19, 2013. He studied law under Theophilus Parsons (later a judge of the state Supreme Court), and was admitted to the bar in 1802. He suffered an almost fatal illness in 1804. He died November 13, 1811, in his father's attic, in Boston, Massachusetts.Margaret Odrowaz-Sypniewska, Robert Treat Paine, New England Colonists Web. Web, Sep. 25, 2018. Writing The Ruling Passion (1797) was the "longest and most perfect of all his poetical productions," in the opinion of Paine's biographer, Charles Prentiss.. Critical introduction by Samuel Kettell No writer of our country has enjoyed a higher flow of popularity during his lifetime than Paine, and no one has more rapidly sunk into neglect. Paine was immoderately overrated in the heyday of his popularity, yet his talents were respectable. His fancy was rich and lively, but not reined in by a proper taste. We are told he endeavored to form his style of composition after the manner of Dryden; it is surprising that the study of such a model should not have rendered him more attentive to the correctness and polish of his diction. His poems gained him enormous sums of money, and the most extravagant praise, but a volume of his works could not now be sold. Some of his most elaborate pieces rise above mediocrity, but the bulk of his poetry has about the same degree of merit, as the common run of magazine rhymes. His prose writings in the shape of orations, occasional addresses, and the like, which received no less applause than his effusions in verse, are among the most remarkable specimens of bad taste which that species of writing can exhibit. His stage prologues and epilogues are, next to a few of his smaller pieces, perhaps the best of his works. His national song of "Adams and Liberty" is the most widely known. The patriotic spirit of the piece gave it a currency which its merits as a literary production alone, would have failed to secure. There is an approach towards a poetical idea in a single stanza, but the general strain of thought and expression, is quite commonplace.Samuel Kettell, "Critical and Biographical Notice: Robert Treat Paine (1773–1811), Specimens of American Poetry, 1829. Web, Sep. 25, 2018. Recognition He was awarded a gold medal for a prize poem at the opening of the Boston Theatre in 1793. Publications Poetry *''The Invention of Letters: A poem, written at the request of the president of Harvard University, and delivered, in Cambridge, on the day of annual commencement, July 15, 1795''. Boston: privately printed by Alexander Martin, 1795. *''The Ruling Passion: An occasional poem: Written by the appointment of the society of the Phi B K, and spoken, on their anniversary, in the chapel of the university, Cambridge, July 20, 1797''. Boston: privately printed by Manning & Loring. 1797. *''Monody on the Death of Lieut. General Sir John Moore''. Boston: J. Belcher, 1811. Collected editions *''Works in Verse and Prose'' (selected by Charles Prentiss). Boston: J. Belcher, 1812. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au: Robert Treat Paine 1773-1811, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Oct. 19, 2013. See also *List of U.S. poets References *"A Boston Dramatic Critic," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society: Third Series, 59 (Oct. 1925 - June 1926) – about Robert Treat Paine, Jr. Notes External links ;Poems *Robert Treat Paine (1773-1810) at Sonnet Central ("Elegaic Sonnet") *Robert Treat Paine Jr. in Specimens of American Poetry: "Adams and Liberty," "The Street Was a Ruin," "Ode Sung at the Anniversary of the Faustus Association" ;Books *Works in Verse and Prose at Amazon.com ;About *Robert Treat Paine Jr. at Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and poetry *Critical and biographical notice in Specimens of American Poetry Category:American poets Category:1773 births Category:1811 deaths Category:19th century in Boston, Massachusetts Category:18th-century poets Category:19th-century poets Category:Poets Category:English-language poets